Masterful Mindsets ~ Always Do Your Best
“Your best is going to change from moment to moment, it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstances, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.” ~ Don Miguel Ruiz
Question:
Do you put pressure on yourself or others to be ‘perfect’ or do you accept that your best is enough? Do you always make it a point to be your best true you?
Action Challenge:
The fourth agreement from Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, The Four Agreements, is probably the easiest and yet so many people struggle with it. But it’s usually not because they don’t want to do their best, although for some that might seem the case. But rather, it’s likely a result of not believing that their best is good enough. So instead they strive for being unrealistically perfect, which often results in disappointment or not every trying, for fear of failure.
This expectation of perfectionism will trip you up more than it’ll help. So today, I want to share one of my own examples of this tendency and give you a way to make this last agreement easily doable for you.
Last week I posted a video on Instagram and Facebook about stepping out of your comfort zone. For me, doing the video was an act of stepping out of my own comfort zone because I’ve never liked seeing myself on camera or video. And I must confess, I am a recovering perfectionist. So, my M.O. in the past has been to put something off until I knew I could make it perfect. (News Flash – When you set yourself up with an expectation of perfection, you set yourself up to fail.) Over the years, I have not only had to overcome my own perfectionist tendencies but I have also taught many clients how to do the same. And some of the most important steps in letting go of that perfectionism, is to realize that:
- Being perfect is a matter of definition. You define what perfect is to you. Never let anyone else define it or you.
- Being the best you that you can be is indeed all that you ever really need to strive to be. Not perfect, just your best.
- Being your best true you is bliss!
So here’s the thing, I decided to let go of my need to have a perfect video. I reminded myself that being authentic and speaking from my heart was all I needed to do. And I did it!
Guess what? It wasn’t perfect… I could have picked it apart with little tweaks and things I could have done differently. But I didn’t. Because I know that I did my best in that moment. Sure, I have a lot to learn. I’m not exactly tech savvy so I even had to do my best with figuring out how to post it and share it. But that’s just it, I did my best! And I was very proud of that. Because the truth is, it’s not about perfection. It’s about showing up every day and giving your best.
My challenge to you is to redefine what “perfect” means to you. Please don’t base your definition on societal beliefs or norms and certainly don’t let self-limiting beliefs from your family of origin influence your definition. Make the definition yours and then commit to being your best true you each and every day – in everything you do and how you show up in the world. If you make a commitment to be the best you that you can be, each and every day, your life will be forever changed. And you’ll be amazed at how good it feels.
***I want to hear from you… Share your thoughts about this week’s topic below!